Nokia 5G FIRST drives new use cases

“We need to have the courage to be fast, learn fast and build the 5G ecosystem. We can’t simply wait until standards are finalized,” urges operator CTO.

And the reason is that 5G will be most likely one of the “Gs” that truly change the world, like 2G did by introducing the concept of ubiquitous connectivity.

We already know that 5G will change the way people communicate and enable growth in many industries, ranging from the automotive, entertainment, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. The biggest difference between 5G and today’s systems is the diversity of use-cases and experience that 5G networks will support. More than just providing mobile broadband, 5G will connect factories, deliver mission-critical services, and bring virtual augmented reality to the consumers and business world.

What we don’t know yet are the 3GPP 5G standards, which many operators are waiting for before they act. Certainly a key reason our industry has been so successful is because it has been standardized. But we don’t have to wait! In order to perfect the 5G standards, we all have to stress the strategic importance of early learning through real use cases. This is of extraordinary importance since the technology needs to be around use cases and market demand, not vice versa. Many are already in full swing thanks to early market specifications such as the 5G Technical Forum (5GTF), an early specification driven mainly by Verizon and other industry leaders. 5GTF was formed in late 2015 in cooperation with ecosystem partners Cisco, Ericsson, Intel, LG, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung to promote interoperability among network and UE/chipset manufacturers, among other things.

While operators need to look beyond 4G to cope with new traffic growth and user demands, Nokia can already help maximize network speed and capacity on their path to 5G with technologies such as 4.9G. Transitioning to a cloud based network enables operators to support current and new technologies on the path to 5G using 4.5G, 4.5G Pro and 4.9G.

However, the use cases that will be powered by 5G have demanding and versatile characteristics as well as new business models that are enabled by the evolving and new technology. They require an approach that we call Nokia 5G FIRST, which is based on early market specifications such as 5GTF and allows early adopters to gain a first-to-market advantage in understanding and deploying 5G before the standards are finalized. We’ve blogged regularly about ongoing trials and have more 5G use cases here to share.

To understand these experiences and how Nokia 5G FIRST end-to-end solution will transform the industry, watch our latest 5G video:

Early bird advantage?

To leap ahead of the competition and into the 5G era, service providers can already now experience higher performing, more agile networks to capture business opportunities driven by these new use cases. Let’s talk!

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About Paul Norkus

Paul is pushing the boundaries of product marketing for Nokia the way Nokia is pushing the boundaries of 5G. He has an MBA from Olivet Nazarene University and a Bachelor's Degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.